Side cam magazine catch for firearms



Oct. 18, 1960 A. L. MONTANA 2,956,363

SIDE CAM MAGAZINE CATCH FOR FIREARMS Filed June 23, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Alfred L- MDIflUIJIL J/ Mod; ma

Oct. 18, 1960 A. L. MONTANA 2,956,363

sm: cm MAGAZINE CATCH FOR FIREARMS Filed June 23, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII,

WIIIII/L'IIIIIIIM IIIIIII) lIIIIIII/lI/I/IIIIIII IIIIIII/II/l/I INVENTOR.

32 Alfred LMunlunu Oct. 18, 1960 A. 1.. MONTANA.

sma CAM MAGAZINE CATCH FOR FIREARMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 23, 1959 INVENTOR. Alfrafl Ill-.Mnn111nn @2504; 7 42a. QW Z Unite tates 2,956,363 SIDE CAM MAGAZINE CATCH FOR FIREARMS Alfred L. Montana, East Longmeadow, Mass., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to firearms of the type wherein the cartridges are fed from a separate external magazine and more particularly to means for replacing and retaining the magazine within the firearm.

There are various types of magazine retaining devices for automatic firearms but they have proved to be inadequate in many respects for modern day automatic fire arms due to the wearing of parts or weakening of the retaining components from constant use. Also, the capacity and weight of the magazines in the prior art firearms are limited due to the inadequate strength of the magazine-retaining structure. Furthermore, the manufacture of magazines is unduly complicated by the relatively close tolerances required to insure proper engagement with the retaining structure therefor in the firearm. A further problem which is present is the inability of existing magazine retention structures to resist a heavy blow on the magazine or even the gun itself, without causing the magazine to fall out of the firearm.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide for automatic firearms a magazine retaining structure which eliminates or substantially reduces the aforementioned drawbacks.

A further object of this invention is to provide a separate cartridge magazine which is adapted to be inserted into the firearm in a straight vertical motion.

It is another object of this invention to provide positive latching at opposite sides of the magazine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means of releasing the magazine by the manipulation of a single conveniently located lever.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide a magazine latching structure for automatic firearms which will be durable and capable of rigidly supporting relatively large and heavy magazines.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a firearm receiver incorporating the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the magazine frame in the firearm receiver showing the general arrangement of the magazine slide and lever;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the magazine secured within the magazine frame of the receiver;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in Fig. 2 showing the magazine within the magazine frame assembly;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in Fig. 4 showing the magazine slide in position to retain a magazine in the firearm;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 5 but showing the magazine slide in the position in which it is atent 0 moved to effect release of the magazine from the firearm;

Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective of the magazine frame assembly; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of the magazine showing the retaining lugs thereon.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals designate like parts, the present invention is particularly adapted for a tubular firearm receiver 12 provided with a depending firing mechanism housing 14. Forwardly of the firing mechanism housing 14 is a rectangular opening 16 having vertical front and rear walls 15 and 17, respectively. Rigidly secured to the receiver 12 by riveting or any other well-known means as shown at 18, and in alignment with rectangular opening 16, is a rectangular magazine frame 20, the opposite sides thereof being provided with upwardly extending arcuate mounting portions 22 which are formed in such a manner as to fit snugly against the outer periphery of receiver 12.

The upper portions of the opposite sides of frame 20 are each provided with a longitudinal strengthening rib 24. On the lower portions of each of the opposite sides of frame 20 is a longitudinal slot 26 extending rearwardly from the front vertical wall of frame 20. The lower portions of each of the opposite sides of frame 20 are further provided with a pair of outwardly projecting rectangular guards 28 which cover areas of longitudinal slot 26. The

opposite sides of frame 20 are each further provided with a pair of vertical slots 30 which are spaced apart and intersect longitudinal slot 26 at right angles thereto. Slots 30 extend downwardly through the bottom of frame 20 in order to provide an entry for similarly located mounting lugs 34 on a box-type magazine 32.

Securely attachedto the forward wall of frame 20 by riveting or other well-known means as shown at 36, is a U-shaped bracket 38 having oppositely disposed holes at the upper portion thereof, as shown at 40 in Fig. 7, and a longitudinal slot 42 at the lower portion for a purpose which will be later explained.

Sildably disposed in slots 26 is a U-shaped elongated slide 44 having longitudinal arms 45 which fit in retainer guards 28 and are thereby restrained against any lateral movement. The forward end of slide 44 is provided with a forwardly extend-ing U-shaped projection 46, which slides into slot 42 of bracket 38, and is provided with oppositely disposed holes 48 in the forward portion thereof for a reason to be hereinafter explained.

Arms 45 are of channeled section, as best shown in Fig. 7, and are provided with longitudinally spaced-apart pairs of oppositely disposed lugs 50 each of which is formed with an inclined cam surface 52 on the forward end thereof adapted to respectively contact the corresponding lugs 34 on the sides of magazine 32 as will be more fully explained.

Pivotally mounted to bracket 38 by a pin 54 inserted into holes 40 is a magazine release lever 56 arranged to form a substantially rectangular shell in which is located a torsion spring 58 of hairpin configuration. Spring 58 is formed with opposite single coils 62 so that the passage of pin 54 therethrough serves'to retain such spring Within the hollow interior of lever 56. When the rear end of spring 58 contacts the underside of receiver 12, the legs 60 which project forwardly of coils 62 bear against the forward interior wall surface of lever 56 to effect the return to the unpivoted forward position thereof. The lower portions of the opposite sides of lever 56 are provided with oppositely disposed holes 64. A pin 68 extends through holes 64 and holes 48 in projection 46 to pivotally join lever 56 to slide 44 so as to be readily accessible by either hand of the operator of the firearm.

When magazine 32 is upwardly inserted in frame 28 so that magazine lugs 34 engage in slots 30, the upward movement of lugs 34 against cam surfaces 52 of lugs a) 50 in slide 44 forces such slide 44 rearwardly to permit lugs 34 to enter into the upper portion of slots 30. Once lugs 34 pass lugs 50, slide 44 is returned to its forward position by the bias of spring 58 thereby bringing lugs 50 into engagement with the bottom surface of lugs 34 thereby retaining magazine 32 within frame 20. To remove magazine 32 from the firearm, all that the operator needs to do is pull lever 56 rearwardly which moves slide 44 to bring lugs 50 out from beneath lugs 34 and thereby permits magazine 32 to drop from the firearm through gravity.

From the foregoing, it is clearly apparent that there is herein provided a simple and rugged magazine retaining device. It is also evident that the magazine latching means are such that the retaining of larger and heavier magazines is possible because the weight of the magazine is distributed equally in the magazine frame. It can also be seen that the central location of the magazine lever enables either hand to be used to release the magazine from the firearm. Also, the fact that the operator may be using heavy gloves or mittens will not in any way hinder the releasing of or the insertion of a magazine into the firearm. It can also be readily seen that the magazine retaining system may easily be disassembled without the removal of any other part of the firearm.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it is evident that many variations may be devised within the spirit and scope thereof and the following claims are intended to include such variations.

I claim:

1. In a firearm having an opening in the underside thereof for receiving a cartridge magazine provided with spaced mounting lugs on the opposite sides thereof, a depending magazine support frame secured to the firearm to surround the magazine opening therein, each of the opposite sides of said frame having a plurality of spaced-apart vertical slots extending upwardly from the bottom thereof to permit entry of the magazine mounting lugs therein, a slide having elongated arms slidably dis-posed in the opposite sides of said frame, a plurality of spaced-apart camming lugs fixedly secured to the inner sides of said arms of said slide, each of said lugs having an upwardly inclined cam surface at the forward end thereof, a release lever pivotally secured to the front end of said frame and fixedly secured to the forward end of said slide, and spring means norm-ally biasing said lever forwardly to position said slide for locating said camming lugs thereon in the path of the mounting lugs on the magazine whereby the camming action therebetween during the upward insertion of the magazine into the firearm displaces said slide to the rear to permit the magazine lugs to bypass said camming lugs whereupon said spring means returns said slide forwardly to position said camming lugs thereon in engagement with the underside of the magazine mounting lugs for retaining the magazine in the firearm.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said frame is provided with a forwardly extending U.-sh aped bracket fixedly secured to the front end thereof, said slide terminates in a forwardly projecting substantially rectangular section, and said release lever comprises a hollow shell pivotally pinned at the upper end thereof to the front upper corner of said bracket and fixedly pinned therebelow to said projecting rectangular section of said slide.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said release lever comprises a substantially rectangular shell and said spring means comprises a torsion spring of hairpin configuration having a pair of opposing spacedapart central mounting coils positioned within said rectangular shell so that one end of said spring bears against the underside of the firearm and the opposite end thereof bears against the inner front wall surface of said rectangular shell to resist the retraction thereof during the release of the magazine from the firearm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

